Chivas didn’t have many opportunities and were lucky that more goals weren’t conceded.

Pumas had most of the opportunities, Chivas had about two.

They were horrible throughout the whole game and only slightly improved at moments only to go back to being bad.

In truth Pumas deserved to win. Their selfish players and horrible finishing prevented them from getting more goals.

Chivas have Luis Michel to thank for fantastic saves, and the post that prevented about 3 goals as well.

So in front Hernandez got the goal again. He was at the right place at the right time, but at least he keeps on scoring. Captain Omar Bravo was invisible during the first half and was taken off for the complementary part.

In the midfield poor little Ramon Morales worked his butt off. Again, he seems like the only player that truly feels for the team.

And the defense…the horror. Reynoso’s terrible attempt to clear the ball led to the Pumas goal. He made several other defensive errors but that was the worst. Galindo did better than the others only because he made a few good clearances and didn’t outshine because he didn’t make horrible mistakes. Solis made a huge save on the line and that was his best contribution, but he did play better than previous performances under Ramirez. And Johnny Magallon…he really is one of my favorite players on the squad, but his performance was terrible. He played as a left back and not as a central defender so that might have had a small factor but he looked lost. I think that all the games have caught up with him.

Four of the boys(Magallon, Araujo, Arellano, and Chicharo) will go off with the national team for the midweek friendly against Colombia.

Next up is Monterrey on October 3rd. Monterrey have been doing extremely well so far…who knows if Chivas will come out of that alive.

The ‘ChivaClasico’ took place at the Rose Bowl in front of an outstanding crowd of just over 20,000! Can you believe it? I can’t. Chivas have not been performing so it was surprising that people went to see them play. Nevertheless, the original Chivas won the game 2-0. As visitors the original Chivas wore the horrible orange away kits and let Chivas USA wear the traditional stripes.

Oh, and Marco Fabian made an incredible fool out of himself.

Unfortunately, videos of that incident are unavailable at the moment. Basically he tried to take it with his right foot, completely missed, and fell right in front of goal.

Guadalajara
1 Luis Michel
6 Omar Esparza
4 Héctor Reynoso
3 Aarón Galindo
20 Édgar Mejía
5 Patricio Araujo
7 Gonzalo Pineda
18 Sergio Amaury Ponce
18 Xavier Báez
8 Marco Fabián
99 Omar Bravo
DT Raúl Arias

Segundo Tiempo
1 Luis Michel
19 Jonny Magallón
2 Mario de Luna
4 Héctor Reynoso
11 Ramón Morales
20 Édgar Mejía
6 Omar Esparza
5 Patricio Araujo
8 Marco Fabián
9 Omar Arellano
99 Omar Bravo

Chivas USA
14 Jon Conway
12 Carey Talley
4 Shavar Thomas
2 Claudio Suárez
23 Bojan Stepanovic
10 Jesús Andrés Padilla
5 Paulo Nagamura
55 Marcelo Zaragoza
16 Sacha Kljestan
29 Maicon Santos
11 Maykel Galindo
DT Preki

So there were basically two different teams for both halves.

Here are the highlights:

Chicharo didn’t travel with the team because of the clash over the weekend. He’s still recovering and so far it’s been reported that nothing serious is wrong with his head.

And…..Chivas has some players called up for the friendly against Colombia!

Johnny Magallon
Pato Araujo
Omar Arellano
Javier ‘Chicharo’ Hernandez

I’m not sure how, but Aguirre saw something in these guys over the current weeks.

All I’ve got to say is…poor Magallon. He got married this summer and was immediately whisked away for the Gold Cup.

And…this would have been the PERFECT time for Michel’s call up to the national team. He hasn’t been doing too well lately, but why not give him the opportunity? This is one player that clearly deserves it.

Now, Alberto Medina has been sent to the second division team as a punishment. So far he’s been the only player to be officially sanctioned in public, but more are sure to follow.

It’s been rumoured that Aaron Galindo has been relegated to the bench for the game against Pachuca over the weekend. Oh, and he was just called up for the national team.

Poor Venado.

While I’m all for trying to improve the team, I don’t really like this solution. Remember what happened to Carlos Ochoa last year? Exactly, it’s hard to remember because he stayed in the obscurity. I like Venado, but it is obvious that he hasn’t been going through a very good time. During the summer it was noticeable with the national team.

And although I’m not a fan of Bravo returning the team, I think that if they get some form of that partnership back together, Chivas could have a kick ass duo again. Add in a little Chicharito and SHAZAM. Amazing. Chicharo can’t do it all by himself.

Guadalajara
1 Luis Michel
17 Sergio Amaury Ponce
3 Aarón Galindo
19 Jonny Magallón (YC 6′)
25 Juan Ocampo (Julio Nava 68′)
11 Ramón Morales
7 Gonzalo Pineda
16 Édgar Solís (Marco Fabián 44′)
18 Xavier Báez
14 Javier Hernández
10 Alberto Medina
DT Francisco Ramírez

Tigres
1 Cirilo Saucedo
3 José Antonio Castro (YC 48′)
19 Fernando Ortiz
5 Alfredo González
4 Antonio Molina
15 Édgar Castillo
8 Lucas Ayala
17 José Toledo (YC 19′)
26 Francisco Fonseca
11 Itamar Batista
16 Lucas Lobos (Armando Pulido 82′)
DT Daniel Guzmán

Tigres didn’t wait very long to start their game. In the 5th minute Kikin received a nice pass from Itamar Batista(who was a beast during this game), and he feinted and went up against Michel to put it past him for the 1-0 lead.

Between the 13th and 14th minute Chivas had so many chances to score. Chicharo was at the forefront of the attacks, but the ball kept on alluding him in front of the net and it stayed the same.

Itamar scored the second of the night in the 35th minute. The Brazilian received a pass from Fonseca who had drawn most defenders to himself, and he chipped it over poor Michel. 2-0.

In the second half, Tigres once more had a chance in the 47th, but Lobos headed just wide.

Finally, in the 50th min Chivas scored. ‘Chicharo’ headed the ball into the net after receiving the pass from Medina and cut the Tigres’ lead in half to 2-1.

Tigres wasn’t done, and in the 61st min Itamar scored his second after outpacing Aaron Galindo. Score, 3-1.

And there’s been more disciplinary problems already. We’ll be without Amaury Ponce against Queretaro on August 15th for a red card.

Overall, a very disappointing game. If it had been lost like last weekend’s at Toluca, I would be more understanding. We came back and fought until the last second in that game. We lost, but there was that fighting spirit in the players that gave hope. Today, the team fell apart. It was horrible to watch from beginning to end. Where was the defense? Where was the leadership?

I dunno, but I’m not liking the look of Ramirez at the head of the team.

Everyone stood around, and just let it happen.

There’s also something going on with poor ‘Tepa’ Solis. That’s another game where he’s subbed out early. Another time where mistakes that should have been meaningless cost us dearly.

The only semi-bright spot in this game was Chicharo. He could have scored another, but at least he’s scoring.

But that’s still 2 losses. It’s the start of the season, but we’ve started with 2 losses. Tigres hadn’t won at the Jalisco since the Apertura 2003, and they broke that today.

Up next…Barcelona. They really need no introduction. This game will be played on August 8th in San Francisco. We were originally supposed to play TecosEstudiantes, but that will be moved to October 10th instead.

Several options were given such as playing behind closed doors, but those were refused.

Chivas was also offered two fields, one in Brazil by Coritiba, and the other by Sociedad Deportiva Aucas in Ecuador. However, owner Jorge Vergara refused because he wanted Chivas to be at the Jalisco.

Yesterday, CONMEBOL approved the games to be played in Mexico, but both Sao Paulo and Nacional have refused to travel to Mexico, and the Mexican teams have dropped out.

“Even though the World Health Organization has given their approval playing with a filled stadium, we find that the teams of Nacional of Montevideo, and Sao Paulo of Brazil have no such approval. We personally made calls to their boards, and federations as well as the Presidents of the clubs to guarantee their arrivals, to make it easier for them; security at the airport and hotels. Unfortunately, both clubs in question don’t want to come to Mexico. By these means we wish to let the CONMEBOL know that we are removing ourselves from the competition,” said FMF president Justin Compean.

For once, FMF is supporting the clubs in their decision.

Guadalajara
1 Luis Michel
17Sergio Amaury Ponce
19 Jonny Magallón
4 Héctor Reynoso (AM 85′)
20 Édgar Mejía
11 Ramón Morales
7 Gonzalo Pineda (Patricio Araujo 62′)
18 Xavier Báez (AM 90′)
9 Omar Arellano (Sergio “Gaucho” Ávila 64′) (Omar Esparza 75′)
14 Javier Hernández
10 Alberto Medina
DT Omar Arellano Nuño.

San Luis
1 Adrián Martínez
2 Omar Monjaraz
15 Alfredo González
16 Michael Orozco (AM 90′)
19 Arturo Alvarado (Rodolfo Salinas 54′)
17 Ignacio Torres
23 Jesús Palacios (AM 89′)
14 Noe Maya (Jairo Patiño 77′)
21 Víctor Hugo Lojero (Néstor Bareiro 72′)
10 Tressor Moreno
24 Rodolfo Reyes
DT Américo Scatolaro

The game started out with Chivas knocking on the door first. Medina let a shot rip in the 2nd minute from outside the area. The shot hit Martinez’ crossbar but issued a warning.

Arellano Jr. got into the area and past a few San Luis defenders. His shot went just wide.

San Luis weren’t really looking dangerous, but they decided to try their luck in the 15th minute. Alvarado shot from outside the area, but the ball went above Michel’s goal.

Omar Arellano Jr. was trying to make his Papa proud when in the 29th minute he came against Martinez. He tried to shoot over the goalkeeper, but his shot went too high for what could have been a goal.

Finally in the 36th minute a good play starting from deep within the Chivas area gave Chivas their goal. Magallon recovered the ball and played it to Arellano. Arellano then gave it to Pineda who ran up the field and chipped it back to Arellano. Arellano played it in for Chicharo Hernandez who rose up against the San Luis defenders and headed the ball into the net. 1-0

During the second half in the 60th min Gonzalo Pineda who had just recovered from injury was injured. There was a clash between Pineda and Tressor Moreno and his knee lost.

In the 75th Arellano Sr. made a strange substitution. Sergio Avila had come in during the 64th minute for Arellano Jr. but was taken out in the 75th. Understandably, Avila did not look to happy as he did not seem to have any injury and he had not been playing terrible.

The last chance in the game for Chivas came in the 85th when Chicharo took a ball and tried to round a defender. He lost his footing and was swarmed by the San Luis team, and wasted the opportunity for what could have been Chivas’ 2nd goal.

San Luis who had a relatively quiet game had a chance in the 88th minute when they gave a powerful shot from outside the area, but it went wide of Michel’s goal.

So the game was pretty quiet. It wasn’t too exciting, but Chivas functioned well. There was great play between Hernandez and Arellano which is bad news for Carlos Ochoa who is currently at Chivas’ reserve team Tapatio A.

Some more bad news is that Aaron Galindo will be out for about 3 weeks after a muscle tear while away with the national team. Galindo didn’t start the game against Honduras because of an injury but was forced into action after Lopez was injured.

It’s funny, Chicharo Hernandez comes from generations of Chivas players. The Arellano’s are a Chivas family. It’s all family in this team folks.

The next game is against Atlante on April 11th away at Quintana Roo.

Tigres
1 Oscar Pérez
3 José Antonio Castro
5 Pedro Benítez
20 Hugo Sánchez
24 José Rivas
43 Jesús Molina
13 Antonio Sancho
58 Manuel Viniegra
16 Lucas Lobos (Mauricio Roero 88′)
50 Francisco Acuña (Mario Ruíz 53′)
9 Omar Bravo (Ariel Bogado 78′)
DT José Néstor Pekerman

Guadalajara
1 Luis Michel
17 Sergio Amaury Ponce (Javier Hernández 67′)
3 Aarón Galindo
4 Héctor Reynoso
19 Jonny Magallón
11 Ramón Morales
7 Gonzalo Pineda (Francisco Mendoza 2T)
18 Xavier Báez
8 Marco Fabián (Jared Borgetti 60′)
10 Alberto Medina
9 Omar Arellano
DT Efraín Flores.

I’m too depressed about this to write. Anyways…

In the 21st Bravo scored a header but it was annulled because of a foul in the area. To be honest I didn’t see one and I think it would have been fair if Tigres had gone up 1-0 with that goal. This would have been Bravo’s first goal in the Clausura 2009 and against Chivas.

A goal by Tigres was scored in the 40th with a header by Pedro Benitez. The aerial game has been causing problems lately.

And….we didn’t really have any notable chances. This game was not very exciting. I fell asleep during the last 10 minutes and it seems like all I missed was a semi good chance by Chicharo Hernandez. I like that kid. I think he should play a bit more because he puts in more effort than Carlos Ochoa or Jared Borgetti.

The next game isn’t until April 4th against San Luis. It’s a bit far off due to the World Cup qualifying for which 4 players(Aaron Galindo, Johnny Magallon, Alberto Medina, and Omar Arellano) have been called up. Hopefully we’ll use that time to reboot or something because things have not been going well.

Also, rumors are that Efrain Flores is in danger of losing his job. I don’t think Vergara should fire him. The season is almost over. There are only 6 more games and the type of manager that Vergara would want to lure in is probably a foreigner who wouldn’t get the game right away. Let Efrain continue and see if he can do ANYTHING. There’s still the Libertadores and we seem to be doing alright with that.

This was America’s little brother. They’re not supposed to have put up such a fight. But they did, and it wasn’t what we expected.

Guadalajara
1 Luis Michel
17 Amaury Ponce (Francisco Mendoza 63′)
4 Héctor Reynoso
19 Jonny Magallón
20 Édgar Mejía (Jesús Padilla 72′)
20 Édgar Mejía
16 Édgar Solís (Marco Fabián 54′)
18 Xavier Báez
5 Patricio Araujo
11 Ramón Morales
14 Javier Hernández
21 Jared Borgetti

DT Efraín Flores

Necaxa
12 Jorge Bernal
18 Luis Valdez (Pablo Gabas 77′) (Marvin del Cruz 90′)
4 Diego Cervantes
2 Pablo Quatrocchi
14 Mario Pérez
23 Joel González
7 Eduardo Coudet
17 Marco A, Gómez
9 Alfredo Moreno
10 Federico Inzúa
61 Luis F. García

The first minute started out well. Jared Borgetti got his first start with Chivas and he had a shot on goal right away. And Johnny Magallon was back!

At the the 5th min, not too long into the game, we were showing good team work. Everyone was meshing well together and we were getting to the Nexaca side quite a bit.

The 8th min foreshadowed what was to come for the rest of the game. Michel stopped a shot by Alfredo Moreno who got away from Reynoso.

Right away in the 9th, “Chicharito” Hernandez had a chance but a Necaxa player got in the way.

During the 14th, Michel saved us again on the line from a shot by Moreno. He had it out for us.

In the 21st “Chicharito” made a case for a penalty call but the ref waved the play on and Tepa Solis followed up with a power strike.

By the half hour mark the attacks by Necaxa were becoming more frequent and our were becoming rarer.

In the 31st we had a really good build-up with Tepa Solis going in from the left, the Ramoncito got it, the Xavi Baez, but it all ended in failure but it was a nice play by Chivas.

In the 35th we made it into Nexaca’s area again. Solis crossed the ball with Chicharito lunging forward for the ball while Borgetti hung back and looked on.

Again in the 41st Borgetti missed a chance as Chicharo crossed the ball only for one of the greatest goal scorers of all time to miss the opportunity.

Finally, the first half ended and the game went by quick. There was much action and both sides were lucky that it was still 0-0. The passing was sloppy but we were holding it together.

I’m sure all the players came out resolved to win the encounter. It certainly seemed that way in the 51st min when Chicharo headed the ball but it only went behind him.

In the 64th Moreno did some damage as he took away a long ball that got away from Reynoso. It was 1-0 for Necaxa.

Right away in the 65th we had an opportunity. Jared Borgetti, possibly the best heading expert in the biz missed. He hit the ball with his shoulder and failed to get us a sure equalizer.

The 83rd gave us a free kick. Master of all masters, Ramoncito Morales took it and made the most spectacular goal. His hit went towards the right of the goal, hit the post and rebounded in off the keeper. We had a 1-1.

Nothing much occurred after that. Fabian did have an opportunity in the 85th but it was slightly outside the goal.

Ramoncito saved our hides with that free kick. I love him, he’s my hero. Chicharito also impressed me with his never ending raids into the opposing area. He definitely deserves a look over and more inclusions with the first team. Johnny Magallon despite being out for a while hasn’t lost much of his level. He played well tonight and he can only get better with more competition for his spot.

Now the team will be heading for Argentina on Sunday for their game against Lanus on February 11th for the Copa Libertadores.

In the third place game between Chivas and Tottenham, the Spurs came out victorious. Again, the game was decided on penalties with the foreigners winning 4-2. The regular game ended in a 2-2 draw.

And….because of their call up with the national team, Carlos Ochoa, Alberto Medina, and Aaron Galindo will not play in the games against Necaxa and in the Copa Libertadores against Argentinean side Lanus. What a bummer, no?

Guadalajara

1 Luis Michel
17 Sergio Amaury Ponce (Gonzalo Pineda 64′)
2 Javier Ledesma
4 Héctor Reynoso
20 Édgar Mejía
5 Patricio Araujo
18 Xavier Báez (YC 36′)
11 Ramón Morales (Édgar Solís 70′)
8 Marco Fabián (Jared Borgetti 70′)
10 Alberto Medina
27 Carlos Ochoa
DT Efraín Flores

Tecos de la UAG

23 Mario Rodríguez
17 Daniel Alcantar
27 Juan Carlos Leaño
8 Joel Sánchez
15 Rafael Medina (Rodrigo “Pony” Ruiz 31′)
21 Octavio Jiménez
18 Jorge Zamogilny (YC 5′)
5 Marcelo Sosa (YC 42′) (Arnold Rivas 86′)
16 Freddy Bareiro (Mario Ortiz 69′) (YC 76′)
9 Claudio Graf
7 Carlos Morales (YC 63′)
DT MIguel Herrera

I didn’t take any notes for this game. I had just woken up and was disoriented, so forgive the flub.

Anyways, Medina scored in the 14th min. His goal came in pretty early and from there we had many opportunities.

Near full time Ledesma had a nice clearance off the line that saved the score in favor to us.

The first half didn’t provide much action, and that was a constant theme throughout the game.

Borgetti made his debut for Chivas in the 70th minute but he did not provide much for the team and I personally forgot he was on the field within a couple of minutes. Again, he still has to prove why he’s here at his old age. Unfortunately, because of his old age I don’t think he will prove it.

A notable error happened in the 80th min when Solis took the ball from within our half, and raced to the door of the opposite goal. Ochoa ran along with him on the right and he was completely open, but Solis decided to go for glory himself and did not pass the ball for a sure goal. What irked me was that supporters booed him every time after when he received the ball. Poor kid, sure he shouldn’t have been selfish but was it really worth booing him every time? I don’t think so. If that deserved to be booed then so did Ochoa who missed at least 2 for sure goals.

We did well during this game even if it was a bit boring. Our defense didn’t fall apart like last week against Cruz Azul and at the moment we have to worry about that the most because we arguably have one of the best offense’s in the country.

Michel had a good performance with some critical saves. His level doesn’t seem to have dropped since his injury.

My new “That was bull, that was bull, we got screwed moment” goes to Carlos Ochoa. Come on man! Better luck find the net next time. We would have thrashed Tecos.

Our next game is against Ochoa’s and Borgetti’s old club, Monterrey on January 31st away at the Technologico.

In the Copa Chivas Comex 2009, Chivas was defeated 2-0 by Tottenham in the tournaments opening game.

And about now Alberto Medina, Carlos Ochoa, and Marco Fabian are heading to meet with El Tri for upcoming game against Sweden on the 28th. Sven’s Sweden played today against the US and was defeated 3-1 with goals from Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA.